Ambrose set for top 20 Sprint Cup finish

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Australian driver Marcos Ambrose is eyeing a top 20 season finish in NASCAR's top-tier Sprint Cup next week after an 11th place in Phoenix on Sunday.

The penultimate race of the season was won by American Jimmie Johnson, extending his series lead heading into the final event at Miami.

Johnson now needs only to finish better than 26th in Miami to win the title.

Former V8 Supercar champion Ambrose, in his first full season of Sprint Car racing, was hovering near the top 10 for most of the 312 laps of the one mile oval Phoenix circuit, running as high as fourth at one point.

Ambrose moved up to 3767 championship points to be 18th on the season standings and has earned over $US4 million ($A4.28 million) in prizemoney this year.

He said recent performances put him in good stead for 2010.

"Good result, good for the guys and more encouragement for next season," Ambrose told ESPN.

"Looking forward to the break, it gets your body and your head back in shape for the following year. I need it, I'm getting really tired.

"I've got my family back in Australia right now so hopefully I've only got seven or eight days to wait here and I get back and see them.

"But I love NASCAR racing, it's what I live for and if we got to race every weekend it wouldn't be a problem."

The season-ending Ford 400 at the Homestead-Miami will be run on November 22.